Judge Bill Hastings said in sentencing him today that Ellis’ life “came unstuck” with the end of his marriage in 2015, the loss of friends who had died and the news a beloved pet would have to be euthanised.
He had self-medicated his grief with alcohol and doubled his anxiety medication to cope.
“I agree it was not the best course of action – in fact it was probably the worst course of action,” Judge Hastings said.
Ellis credited Alcohol and Addiction services in Nelson for helping him through his latest decline, which landed him back in court.
He described the service as “incredible” and said he had learned to deploy a technique called “white knuckling” when he felt like having a drink.
The method encouraged a person to remain sober through “sheer force of will”.
“I have the right support around me now, which is really good.” Ellis said.
Paul Ellis told NZME outside the Nelson District Court, before sentencing on his latest drink drive charge, that it was a “bad day” on which he made bad choices. Photo / Tracy Neal
Judge Hastings noted a comment from a counsellor who said, “Paul knows recovery is a journey and not a destination”.
Earlier this year, he was found behind the wheel with a breath alcohol reading of an “extraordinarily high” 1688 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath, which was 6.7 times the legal limit of 250mcg, for drivers aged 20 and over.
He was also a disqualified driver, and was disqualified again today, indefinitely.
Ellis had pleaded guilty in May to drink driving on a third or subsequent time.
Drunken crash was an ‘oversight’
According to the summary of facts, police tracked Ellis down on the morning of February 21 this year after a report that someone had collided with a parked vehicle in the Nelson suburb of Tāhunanui.
Police said they followed a clear trail of vehicle fluid from the crash-damaged vehicle that led directly to the front passenger wheel of Ellis’ vehicle, which was parked on a nearby street.
Ellis, exhibiting signs that he had been drinking, admitted he was a disqualified driver.
An evidential breath test showed a reading which was 6.7 times the limit.
The 62-year-old told the police that at the time he had been living in his car at Nelson’s Isel Park. He had been drinking wine but the crash was an “oversight” he had not been aware of.
He subsequently found an address in Nelson where he has been living for several months.
From a starting point of a year in prison, Ellis was given discounts for his early guilty pleas and for steps taken so far to help himself.
The sentence of home detention included special conditions that he attend and complete more counselling and treatment for addiction.
Not his first time driving while drunk
The offending followed a series of similar in Marlborough from 2018 to 2023 when he was caught driving while disqualified, on the back of drink-driving convictions.
In November 2023 he was convicted in the Blenheim District Court for driving while disqualified, fined $400 and given a six-month disqualification.
He was also granted leave to apply for an alcohol interlock licence at the time. But, police said he failed to do this, which meant that when he was caught in February this year, he was still driving as a disqualified driver.
Ellis was also convicted in the same court in June 2018 on two separate charges, 10 days apart, of driving with excess blood alcohol.
He was convicted again in May 2022 on a charge of driving with excess breath alcohol for a third or subsequent time.
Paul Ellis in brighter days at a New Zealand music function. Photo / Norrie Montgomery
Ellis was born in Timaru but grew up in Picton, and moved back to the region in 2020 when he helped organise the Linkwater Summer Sounds Music Festivals.
He had a successful career in the music industry as a producer and manager and had worked with international music stars, including several from New Zealand.
Ellis was a Sony Music executive living in New York at the time of 9/11 and was a judge on the first two NZ Idol seasons, before appearing as a judge on New Zealand’s Got Talent in 2008.
Although Ellis’ breath alcohol reading was extremely high – it was not the highest recorded by a drink driver.
An Auckland woman blew one of the highest breath-alcohol levels ever recorded by NZ police, at almost nine times the legal limit, when she was stopped in Whangārei in February this year.
A roadside test revealed the 36-year-old had a breath-alcohol level of 2178 mcg.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.